Thursday, June 3, 2021

Right to repair





Actually it is ridiculous that we are having this conversation.  Unless the tractor industry is prepared to provide just on time repair which would be catastrophically expensive, it must lay off as much of the repair on to the owner operator as possible.

No manufacturer would allow their production line to become captive to a tool maker and his scheduling.  This is exactly what the tractor manufacturers are attempting here.

In the end we are going to get a patchwork of state laws now to overcome what is a self inflicted injury.

does every farmer need to charge back down time costs which obviously are very real as we would if a machine tool guarantee had be be actiuvated?

The use of a tractor is never optional during the growing season.  No can down time.  That is why farmers learn to be able to change out their components as needed.  Tractors need to be designed around exactly this and failure also needs to be uncommon.

Right to repair.

As of 2020, no right to repair law has passed in the US. But more than 20 states are considering legislation similar to Nebraska's, and Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren have both supported national right to repair legislation for farmers. 

When it comes to repair, farmers have always been self reliant. 

But the modernization of tractors and other farm equipment over the past few decades has left most farmers in the dust thanks to diagnostic software that large manufacturers hold a monopoly over. In this episode of State of Repair, we go to Nebraska to talk to the farmers and mechanics who are fighting large manufacturers like John Deere for the right to access the diagnostic software they need to repair their tractors.




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